Tag Archives: Stronghold Games

Stronghold Games and eggertspiele are proud to announce jointly a Strategic Partnership whereby Stronghold Games will co-publish all future eggertspiele tiles in English for the North American market effective immediately.

Stronghold Games and eggertspiele have worked together previously on several projects, including the just-released Porta Nigra, as well as Time ‘N’ Space (2013), andMilestones (2012). This Strategic Partnership solidifies the relationship and the commitment of the two companies to work together exclusively in the North American market in English for all future eggertspiele titles.

Before the creation of this Strategic Partnership, Stronghold Games had previously announced the co- publication in 2016 of the award-winning Village line of games under license from eggertspiele. The Village line of games will be released by Stronghold Gamesin 2016 on this approximate schedule:

Village (April 2016)

Village Inn (April 2016)

Village Port (June 2016)

My Village (June 2016)

With this new Strategic Partnership, these announced eggertspiele titles also will be co-published by Stronghold Games in 2016:

Animals On Board

You have an ark and want to take as many animals on board as you can. Unfortunately, a guy named Noah claims all animal pairs for himself. However, you can gather a herd of three, four or five animals of a species, which is even more valuable! But forming a herd usually requires you to get a pair first…

When the arks depart, will you have the most valuable… Animals On Board?

Animals On Board is an easy to learn, fast game with lots of tricky decisions.

The last time this design team of Ralf zur Linde and Wolfgang Sentker worked together they produced a Spiel des Jahres nominee (Finca, 2009). Ralf zur Linde had another Spiel des Jahres nominee in 2012 with Eselsbrücke.

Street date: April 2016

JÓRVÍK – designed by Stefan Feld

You are a Viking Jarl gaining prestige by trading goods, holding big feasts, funding pillages, commissioning craftsmen, and hiring soldiers to defend the city against recurring invasions.JÓRVÍK is a reimagining of Die Speicherstadt (2010), where players utilize a simple yet brilliant worker-placement and bidding mechanism to build up their trading empires.

(Note: not final box cover)

JÓRVÍK will include two versions: A streamlined base game and an advanced game, which adds into the game the rare expansion formerly called Kaispeicher.

Street date: Q4′ 2016

Great Western Trail

You are rival cattlemen in 19th century America, herding cattle in a circular trail from the south of Texas to Houston, where your cattle are then shipped by train earning you money and victory points. Hire capable staff, such as cowboys to improve your herd, craftsmen to build your cattle posts, or engineers for the railroad line. Upon each arrival in Houston, have your most valuable cattle in tow.

(Note: not final box cover – will be colorized)

The winner of Great Western Trail will be the player who manages his herd best, and exhibits good timing in mastering the opportunities and pitfalls of the circular trail.

Stronghold Games and eggertspiele will print these games together at Ludofact Germany, the leading printer of hobby games in the world. Not only will the games from both companies be of the same great German quality, but this will also enable a virtually simultaneous worldwide release of the titles.

“We are very excited by this Strategic Partnership with the world-renowned company, eggertspiele,” said Stephen Buonocore, President of Stronghold Games. “This strengthens our commitment to bringing great games from Europe to North America and the rest of the world.“

“Joining with Stronghold Games as our exclusive North American partner for English was an obvious extension of the existing relationship between the companies,” said Peter Eggert, President of eggertspiele. “Stronghold Games has been a great partner in the past, and their growth over the past several years will strengthen both brands around the world.”

About Stronghold Games:

Stronghold Games LLC is a publisher of high-quality board and card games in the hobby game industry. Since 2009, Stronghold Games has released many highly-regarded games, including the best-selling Survive: Escape From Atlantis!, the most innovative deck-building game, Core Worlds, the smash-hit game line of Space Cadets, and many others. Stronghold Games publishes game designs developed both in-house and in partnership with publishers around the world. Stronghold Games LLC is a Limited Liability Company formed in the State of Delaware USA.

About eggertspiele:

eggertspiele is a publisher of strategic and tactical games noted for having little to no luck factor. Since 1996, Peter Eggert and Philipp El Alaoui have published numerous games for eggertspiele, initially focusing on internally developed games. More recent publications have been designed by renowned game designers, garnering many awards for eggertspiele games, including Village (Kennerspiel des Jahres 2012) and Camel Up(Spiel des Jahres 2014). eggertspiele is headquartered in Hamburg, Germany.

Licensed English Editions of My Village, Village, Village Inn, and Village Port coming in 2016

New Jersey, USA – November 18, 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Stronghold Games is proud to announce the publication of the Village line of games, under license and co-published with the great German publisher, Eggert-spiele. TheVillage line of games currently includes Village, My Village, Village Inn, and Village Port.

Village, which is the original game in this line, was originally published in 2011. The innovative game play and rich theme quickly garnered Village numerous board game awards including the prestigious Kennerspiel des Jahres (2012), Games Magazine Best New Advanced Strategy Game (2013), Deutcher Spiele Preis Best Family/Adult Game (2012), as well asmany other awards and nominations.

In Village, players take the reins of a family where the members become merchants, clergy, politicians, or travelers, all in search of fame and glory. Players spend time to perform actions. Since time will not stop for anyone, your people will pass on. Strategic time-management determines if your family will be immortalized in the village chronicles to bring honor and victory to your family.

My Village, a new standalone game in the line, was released at Essen 2015. Each player is in charge of their own village, controlling its entire fate. The popular themes, places, and characters of Village are joined by new elements like dice drafting, individual Grim Reaper figures, and rat invasions. My Village is a whole new experience with a similar game weight to Village.

Village Inn is the first expansion to Village, adding two new buildings, the Brewery and the Inn. The Brewery is a new craft building where you can acquire a new good, beer. At the Inn, you meet influential people that have unique abilities.Village Inn includes all necessary components for a fifth player as well.

Village Port is the second expansion to Village, enabling players to travel the seas, trading goods and foreign commodities. Family members can become missionaries and dig for treasure on distant lands. Life goal cards are introduced, enabling your family to pursue careers such as writer, historian, or even knight.

The Village line of games was designed by the noted team of Inka and Markus Brand, who are responsible for many other great games, such as A Castle for All Seasons, La Boca,Murano, and others. The Village line also features the gorgeous artwork of the talented artist Dennis Lohausen, whose work has been featured in many games such as Terra Mystica, Dominion: Intrigue, The Voyages of Marco Polo, Hansa Teutonica, Fields of Arle, Glass Road, AquaSphere, Hawaii, Camel Up, and others.

The release of the Village line of games strengthens the commitment of Stronghold Games to partner with publishers globally, bringing their very best games to North America and the rest of the world, as well as to continue to publish top-tier euro-game designs. The Village line of games follows the success of other major euro-games in 2015 from Stronghold Games, such as La Granja, The Golden Ages, 504, and Porta Nigra also with Eggert-spiele.

Stronghold Games will release Village and Village Innfor the GAMA Trade Show in March 2016. Stronghold Games will then release My Village and Village Port in time for the Origins Game Fair in May/June 2016. The Village line of games will be printed at Ludofact Germany, the leading printer of hobby games in the world.

“We are excited to be publishing the new game, My Village, as well as bringing back into print the rest of the Village line of games”, said Stephen Buonocore, President of Stronghold Games. “We are very excited to be working on this project with the fantastic company, Eggert-spiele, with whom we have worked so well in the past.”

Stronghold Games LLC is a publisher of high-quality board and card games in the hobby game industry. Since 2009, Stronghold Games has released many highly-regarded games, including the best-selling “Survive: Escape From Atlantis!“, the most innovative deck-building game “Core Worlds”, the smash-hit game line “Space Cadets”, and the copublished game line “Among The Stars”. Stronghold Games publishes great game designs developed both in-house and in partnership with great publishers from around the world. Stronghold Games LLC is a Delaware USA Limited Liability Company.

Stronghold Games Announces the Publication of “504”Designed by Friedemann Friese

“504” designated by Stronghold Games as Game #2 in its “The Great Designer Series”

New Jersey, USA – June 25, 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Stronghold Games is proud to announce the publication of “504″, a game designed by the renowned game designer Friedemann Friese, co-published with 2F-Spiele.

504 is a revolutionary concept in game design. 504 offers the game enthusiast 504 different games in a single box, achieving this via the use of nine game modules, which can be merged together to form 504 unique play experiences. The nine modules are Pick-up & Deliver, Race, Privileges, Military, Exploring, Roads, Majorities, Production, andShares.

In 504, players use the spiral bound “Book of 504 Worlds“, selecting three different modules in any order from the nine available, and thereby creating a unique “World”. For example, the selection of three modules for a World may create a game that is:

A racing game that expands through exploration with technology improving the racing or exploration (World “253”).

An 18XX-style stock game with network building for income and production sites to provide workers for the road building (World “968”).

A wargame with a pick-up and deliver economy and bonus scoring from majorities (“World 417”).

Thematically in 504, scientists in the future are able to build small alternate Earths. Exactly 504 such Earths have thus far been built. The scientists have programmed each of these Worlds with an individual set of laws and rules, which the inhabitants strictly follow and consider most important for their lives. These may be exploration, consumption, economics, military, etc., and each is unique. You can visit all of these 504 alternate Earths to experience how the people are living, and decide which of these worlds harbours the best civilization. On which World do you want to live? Explore them all and decide!

Stronghold Games will release 504 as the second game in its new “The Great Designer Series”, which will highlight games from the best game designers in the world. 504 is designed by the renowned game designer Friedemann Friese, whose previous works include the acclaimed games Power Grid plus its many expansions, Friday, Fauna,Fearsome Floors, and many others.

The release of 504 continues the commitment of Stronghold Games to partner with publishers globally, bringing their great games to North America and the rest of the world, as well as to continue to publish great euro-game designs. 504 follows the success of two smash-hit 2014 euro-games from Stronghold Games, Panamax andKanban: Automotive Revolution. Stronghold Games recently announced Porta Nigra, by renowned game design team Wolfgang Kramer & Michael Kiesling, as the first game in its new “The Great Designer Series”, scheduled to be released later this year.

Stronghold Games will print 504 at Ludofact Germany, the leading printer of hobby games in the world. 504 has a tentative release date of November 2015. The MSRP for this game has not been set at this time. Stronghold Games will debut its English edition of 504 in October 2015 at the Essen Spiel in Germany. Co-publishing partners for other language editions of 504 will be announced imminently by 2F-Spiele.

“This is a revolutionary game design for the hobby game industry,” said Stephen Buonocore, President of Stronghold Games. “It is an honor to be working with Friedemann Friese and his great company, 2F-Spiele, on such an ambitious and game-changing project.”

“My project 504 was not only hard work for 3.5 years, but it has been a dream of mine since I started to analyze game mechanics in the mid-90s”, said Friedemann Friese. “I’m happy to see my game at Stronghold Games next to a game that influenced my work a lot, Outpost. Stephen loved 504 from the first moment I showed it to him, so I believe my game is in good hands.”

Stronghold Games Announces the Publication of “504”Designed by Friedemann Friese

“504” designated by Stronghold Games as Game #2 in its “The Great Designer Series”

New Jersey, USA – June 25, 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Stronghold Games is proud to announce the publication of “504″, a game designed by the renowned game designer Friedemann Friese, co-published with 2F-Spiele.

504 is a revolutionary concept in game design. 504 offers the game enthusiast 504 different games in a single box, achieving this via the use of nine game modules, which can be merged together to form 504 unique play experiences. The nine modules are Pick-up & Deliver, Race, Privileges, Military, Exploring, Roads, Majorities, Production, andShares.

In 504, players use the spiral bound “Book of 504 Worlds“, selecting three different modules in any order from the nine available, and thereby creating a unique “World”. For example, the selection of three modules for a World may create a game that is:

A racing game that expands through exploration with technology improving the racing or exploration (World “253”).

An 18XX-style stock game with network building for income and production sites to provide workers for the road building (World “968”).

A wargame with a pick-up and deliver economy and bonus scoring from majorities (“World 417”).

Thematically in 504, scientists in the future are able to build small alternate Earths. Exactly 504 such Earths have thus far been built. The scientists have programmed each of these Worlds with an individual set of laws and rules, which the inhabitants strictly follow and consider most important for their lives. These may be exploration, consumption, economics, military, etc., and each is unique. You can visit all of these 504 alternate Earths to experience how the people are living, and decide which of these worlds harbours the best civilization. On which World do you want to live? Explore them all and decide!

Stronghold Games will release 504 as the second game in its new “The Great Designer Series”, which will highlight games from the best game designers in the world. 504 is designed by the renowned game designer Friedemann Friese, whose previous works include the acclaimed games Power Grid plus its many expansions, Friday, Fauna,Fearsome Floors, and many others.

The release of 504 continues the commitment of Stronghold Games to partner with publishers globally, bringing their great games to North America and the rest of the world, as well as to continue to publish great euro-game designs. 504 follows the success of two smash-hit 2014 euro-games from Stronghold Games, Panamax andKanban: Automotive Revolution. Stronghold Games recently announced Porta Nigra, by renowned game design team Wolfgang Kramer & Michael Kiesling, as the first game in its new “The Great Designer Series”, scheduled to be released later this year.

Stronghold Games will print 504 at Ludofact Germany, the leading printer of hobby games in the world. 504 has a tentative release date of November 2015. The MSRP for this game has not been set at this time. Stronghold Games will debut its English edition of 504 in October 2015 at the Essen Spiel in Germany. Co-publishing partners for other language editions of 504 will be announced imminently by 2F-Spiele.

“This is a revolutionary game design for the hobby game industry,” said Stephen Buonocore, President of Stronghold Games. “It is an honor to be working with Friedemann Friese and his great company, 2F-Spiele, on such an ambitious and game-changing project.”

“My project 504 was not only hard work for 3.5 years, but it has been a dream of mine since I started to analyze game mechanics in the mid-90s”, said Friedemann Friese. “I’m happy to see my game at Stronghold Games next to a game that influenced my work a lot, Outpost. Stephen loved 504 from the first moment I showed it to him, so I believe my game is in good hands.”

The first time I saw someone explain Survive! Escape From Atlantis I knew I had to have it. The theme, the look, the interesting gameplay. I loved it so much I did a video review of it for Ed Baraf. This game had a huge impact on our family. Even our 11 year old, who is not as interested in board games, asks to play it, Then I did some research on the designer. Surely he created other games that my family would love. But I only found information on an out of print game and a never published game. I needed more information. Luckily we live in the 21st century and I have this wonderful thing called the internet and this other wonderful thing called electronic mail!! Once I combined the two I was able to contact and communicate with Julian Courtland-Smith, designer of Survive! Escape From Atlantis and bringer of joy to my family.

Today Spaghetti & Meeples brings you Part 1 (yes there will be a part 2!) of our interview with Julian Courtland-Smith.

What inspired you to design Survive?

Survive! is the name (title) Parker Brothers, USA, chose to call my game Escape from Atlantis (EfA). What inspired me to invent EfA was, one day in Hastings Library I chanced upon a row of books all about the ‘mythical’ island of Atlantis. In a flash I thought a game about a sinking island would be a good theme for a board game.The rest is history.

Survive has been through many publishers. Did you have anything to do with that?

Yes and no. Survive went through many publishers because each publisher had survival issues, pun intended. Parker Brothers were hit badly when computer games came along and wiped out 80% of the board game market. Following the success of Lost Valley of the Dinosaurs! I took EfA to Waddingtons UK with a 3D version which they marketed. A few years later, Waddingtons were hit by a recession and taken over by Hasbro. I renegotiated with Hasbro who launched their version of EfA in 1997, but when European sales of Atlantis! dropped below 100,000 per annum they axed it. Stronghold Games came along and relaunched the game in 2010. Since then it has remained a success. EfA is also sub-licensed by Asmodee in other languages and called ‘The Island’. There’s also a digital version of the EfA on smart phones. It’s marketed by Quado and called Escape from Atlantis. Yes, many publishers have marketed Escape from Atlantis but each has played a part in its continued success.

What about the expansions Stronghold Games has released?

They’re great! Stronghold Games consulted me about their expansions and I agreed.

I read Survive originally had pirates in it. Do you want to get pirates back in the game?

My prototype of Survive (Escape from Atlantis) did indeed include pirates. Parker Bros, USA, substituted the pirates for whales. I think this was a good idea. My pirates and Parker Bros whales do the same thing, which is sink a boat upon impact and make the fleeing Atlantians swimmers. I believe there are fans of the game who would enjoy seeing pirates in the game. What’s needed to include pirates in a future expansion is a new set of rules which legitimize their presence and doesn’t upset the balance of the game.

What does it feel like to have Survive not only still around 30 years on, but also very popular and on many “best of” lists?

Very humbling! The fact that so many people still enjoy playing my game after all these years is really amazing. Yes, I feel very honoured.

You also designed Lost Valley Of The Dinosaurs and the unreleased Mammoth Mountain. I sense a running theme. Not so much a question as a leading statement…

I love thematic games. As such, in the 80’s, I designed a trilogy of adventure games. Because of major changes in the games industry explained above I was unable to get my third game Mammoth Mountain released. See picture of Mammoth Mountain, not seen elsewhere.

Any chance of Mammoth Mountain getting made?

There’s a lot of interest being shown at the moment to publish the original prototype of Lost Valley of the Dinosaurs, not the Waddingtons version. If that’s successful, then there’s a slim chance Mammoth Mountain will follow.

Why did you decide to invent board games?

In 1965 I read an article in a magazine about Waddingtons latest game, Mine A Million! I thought I could do that!

What was the first game you invented?

My first game was called World Power. Looking back, it was rubbish and a variation of Risk!

How many games have you invented?

Somewhere between 50 to 100. When a game goes nowhere, I take any good mechanics from it and put them into another game.

How many years have you been inventing games?

42 years out of the last 50, as I took an 8 year sabbatical. In the last recession 1988/96 lots of board game companies went to the wall. Like frenzied sharks on a blood lust, the major manufacturers Mattel and Hasbro gobbled up most of the opposition. Today Waddingtons, Spears, Parker Bros, MB and the like have become brand names. I took a back seat during that recession waiting for the fallout, as people in the business were losing their jobs and games companies stopped marketing new games.

How long did it take before you were successful?

17 years. Lost Valley of the Dinosaurs was marketed by Waddingtons in 1982 and sold 1/3rd million. It took me 2 weeks to invent the game, 4 weeks to write the rules and 6 years to get it to market!

Be sure to join us next week for Part 2 and find out a little more about Julian’s design process and what’s next for him!

In the meantime here’s more picture goodness of a prototype version of Survive! Escape From Atlantis!